A serious ecological problem that has arisen recently is that of the proliferation of weed growth in fresh water ponds. This problem has occurred because both of the conventional methods of removing weeds leads to a vicious circle that results in ever-increasing weed growth. One method that is presently used in controlling weeds is that of introducing into the pond a floating machine which cuts the weeds in the manner of a lawn mower. A portion of the weed which is cut eventually falls to the bottom where it forms a rich fertilizer for further growth of weeds. The other conventional method is the use of chemicals. In this case the chemical causes the weed to die, but the dead weed simply falls to the bottom of the pond where it forms an excellent fertilizer for further weed growth. In addition, chemical weed killing is gradually being banned in most communities, because of the fact that the weed-killing chemicals contain heavy metal which, when introduced into the water table, tend to poison water supplies. In addition, these chemicals are difficult to remove from the water once they have been introduced. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.
It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide an apparatus for removing weeds from lakes and ponds by uprooting them.
Another object of this invention is the provision of weed killing apparatus which does not leave dead weeds on the pond bottom to fertilize.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a weed removal apparatus which operates to break the weed growth cycle.
It is another object of the instant invention to provide an apparatus and method to remove weeds from a pond without introducing harmful chemicals.
A still further object of the invention is the provision of an apparatus for weed removal in which the weeds are collected and can later be used for beneficial purposes.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a weed removal apparatus which is light in weight, which is inexpensive to manufacture, and which can be readily transported from one pond to another.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a weed removal method which permits the operator to be very selective and to remove weeds only from the location and in the amount that he wishes.
With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.